‘They seemed to be dizzy and couldn’t even speak clearly’ — Private-hire driver alerts police after teens openly vape in his car

SINGAPORE: A 51-year-old private-hire driver alerted the police after two teenage passengers began openly vaping in his vehicle.

The driver, Mr Guo, shared his account with Shin Min Daily News, explaining that he picked up the two youths around 9 a.m. on May 18. Their destination was a public housing flat in Choa Chu Kang.

“After they got into the car, they started smoking e-cigarettes,” said Mr Guo. “I felt something was wrong at the time.”

Concerned by the situation, Mr Guo admitted to listening in on their conversation, during which he overheard them discussing plans to pick up Kpods—a type of vape liquid that is often illicitly laced with etomidate, a sedative drug typically used in non-surgical medical procedures.

The misuse of Kpods has become an increasing concern in Singapore, particularly among youths.

“This made me very worried,” he told the Chinese daily, “They seemed to be dizzy from smoking the e-cigarettes and couldn’t even speak clearly, so I thought I should report the situation to the authorities.”

Initially planning to drive straight to a police station, Mr Guo instead spotted Traffic Police officers on the Bukit Timah Expressway and decided to approach them directly.

“I got out of the car and told the police what had happened,” he recalled, “Other police officers and ambulances arrived at the scene.”

“I’ve seen a lot of reports about young people smoking e-cigarettes recently, which I find very worrying,” he added, “I hope the authorities can enforce the law more strictly to prevent similar incidents from happening.”

Under Singapore law, the possession, purchase, and use of e-cigarettes and related vaping products is illegal.

Investigations are ongoing.